Wednesday, March 30, 2011

The first film to star the Next Generation crew, but a final appearance by the legend that is Captain James T Kirk.

I used to always say that Voyage Home was my favourite Trek movie, but now I'm not sure. Having actually seen some of the series' before watching this time, more bits made sense and I understood characters more. However having only seen the first season of Next Generation, some bits still illuded me, but I'll get there eventually. I love the beginning. Scotty and Chekov reunite for a final time to send off Alan Ruck's new Enterprise. Then everything with Generation crew. My favourite bit of this movie was when the Enterprise splits the disk and is about to crash, the camera focuses on Data and with his burnt emotion chip, he simply says: "Oh Shit!". Loved it. Then the whole business with the Nexus obviously immediately made me pay attention with William Shatner's re-appearance. I loved the scene where Jean Luc is trying to convice Kirk that non of it is real, but he is just focused on making an omlette.

*Spoiler*

Then of course theres the matter of when they do return to Jean Luc's present day and stop Soran. Kirk's death I feel was OK. I know a lot of fans hated the idea of killing him off, but i understood. Kirk had to pass on the torch and he did it and happened to save an entire solar system at the same time, very Kirk. Not quite as awesome last lines as Spock; "It was fun" VS "I have been and always shall be, your friend. Live long and prosper"

LexLuthor is voted President of the USA and when a huge Kryptonite meteor is heading for earth, Superman and Batman must do what they do best: Save the day.

Ok so after last week's Under The Red Hood, I decided i wanted to watch more of these Batman animated movies and having just finshed the original Superman movies, this animated film seemed a logical watch.Apart from not knowing hardly any of the supporting characters due to a lack of overall DC knowledge, I liked it. It featured Kevin Conroy returning to voice the Dark Knight and the only other cast member I know of was John C Mcginley, who played Metallo. All the voice cast was good. I did think that with Lex Luthor as the primary villian, the story line did tip slightly towards the Supeman side rather than Batman, but it was still a good watch. The animation is all done perfectly. Its these kind of movies that makes me wonder why we bother with 3D animated movies.

A woman who lives in an old house with her two children thinks that her family home is haunted when three strangers appear at her door.

Not my usual kinda film, but it came with a high recommendation. I'll be honest, up until the major plot twists at the end, I found it rather boring. Nicole Kidman gave a good performance, but i wasn't too bothered with the story as nothing was revealed at all until the giant climax at the end. Usually bits are trickled down, sprinkling bits of facts to sweeten the experience, but with this, i don't think i knew anymore than i did at the beginning of the film. That been said I did say there was a climax.

*!!MAJOR SPOILER: Do not read further unless you have seen the film!!!!!!*

OK.Everything from when the curtains are taken away, grabbed my interest. I was intrigued to finally find out what actually was going on in this house. Then the children find the servants graves?! OMG. Maybe because I like to see the good in films i watch, but i did not see that coming. The creepy walk that the three of them do freaked me out. Then the next scene back in the children's room. I literally shouted 'no' at the TV when i found out. Suddenly the entire film makes sense, everything clicks and this film becomes genius.

The cast all gave a good performance, Christopher Ecclestone was good, that was another nice moment, when she met him in the fog, but when he didn't do anything back home, i got bored again. I don't know her name, but the woman who played Daniel Farady's Mother in Lost, was good in this, being cruel to be kind.

Saturday, March 26, 2011

Batman has to face The Red Hood, a villain who is keen on taking over the drug business in Gotham.

My first animated Batman experience and i can say i want more. Although as far as i can tell, this is different cast to usual, they were all pretty much on the mark.Bruce Greenwood was a good Batman. A good blend of dark and deep without sounding as bad as Christian Bale. Neil Patrick Harris was a nice surprise as Nightwing. I didn't know it was Jason Issacs as Ras Al Ghul until the credits, he sounds very different to what i remember of Harry Potter. John DiMaggio was the only cast member i had issue with. As i mention in my Adam West Batman review, The Joker needs to be insane with a hint of intellect. However it took me until the end of the film to come to grasps with his deeper voiced Joker. It did sound quite out of place as every now and then i would get an image of Bender from Futurama and it would ruin it.

Great story, not full of plot points, most people who know Batman lore, or like me, you can just guess whats to happen at the end within the first 10 mins or so.Definitely worth a watch for all fans of The Dark Knight. Only other flaw was that its too short at just over an hour long.

When a down on his luck writer is given a pill that allows him to fully concentrate his mind of tasks at hand, he becomes a financial genius, but at what cost?

When this movie finished i turned to my friend and said "I'm still not sure if i liked what i just saw" and I'm still not sure. It seems a good idea that the film has but the execution is wrong.Bradley Cooper leads the movie, which may contribute to my unsureness. If the movie was lead by an actor i like, say Jason Statham or Liam Neeson, i may have thought this was a far superior film. However we are made to do with Bradley Cooper. Other than him and Robert DE Niro, i cant say i recognise any of the other cast.It started good, with hm discovering what he could do while on the pill, but when other plot stuff was added i just didn't care anymore.*POSSIBLE SPOILERS*The way the pill works, is that you are given a photographic memory that is 100% accurate. It seemed very coincidental that he had once seen things that allowed him to become who he was at the end of the film. That he happened to meet the one guy to get him a job in the right industry so that he just happened to catch the eye of the most important man in the trade and be able to get a job with them all with no training. I know the pill is good, but i wasn't convinced.Although i slated him earlier, Bradley Cooper wasn't bad as the lead, but as i said didn't aid my opinion of the movie. Robert De Niro was good. He popped up quite a few times during the movie, even if the bit in the trailer was cut a bit down.

Batman must use all his wits and skills in order to face a combined set of his greatest villains: The Joker, The Riddler, The Penguin and The Catwoman.

Adam West in his iconic role as The Dark Knight. When i first watched this movie, I loved it. However on its second viewing i wasn't as blown away.First lets look at the villains. The Joker as played by Cesar Romero. With The Joker, there was always a bit of intellect behind his madness, with Romero's performance I thought the Joker was too giddy at times. Now I understand that this movie was based from the HUGE and successful TV show at the time, but this may be my least favourite performance of The Joker.The Penguin as played by Burgess Meredith. I liked it. It was all the penguin should be. From the way he walked to the way he quacks and laughs.The Catwoman as played by Lee Meriwether. Similar with the Joker, her way of "purring" her words grew annoying at times. I'm sure it works well in the comics and on the original TV show, but i wasn't too keen.The Riddler as played by Frank Gorshin. The best for last. A little biased i know, in that The Riddler is my favourite Batman villian, so just including him makes me love it. Gorshin however just ups the ante and gives an awesome portrayal. The Riddler's laugh and the way he would clearly identify himself as the smartest of the group and his need to leave Batman riddles. Frank Gorshin's Riddler, in my opinion far dwarfs Jim Carry (even though i did like his portrayal)Adam West as Batman. I cant comment on pure excellence.

However. The movie does not hold my attention as it did the first time round. The Riddles that the Riddler left were annoying, Robin's way of solving them was annoying. The comic way of doing it wasn't funny at times and i found myself bored.

Not only must the man of steel fight a new enemy, he must also face his greatest foe: Himself.

So many things to say about this movie, just have to decide in what order i say them. This movie seemed to not be able to decide if Superman was indeed the main character. It switched between Kalel and a supporting character Gus, a down of his luck computer programmer who happens to be at the right place at the right time and is quickly promoted to his boss' right hand man.I didn't like this. I thought it was annoying. I also wondered why the characters were even there at all. It would have made more sense to me to have had Lex Luthor as the bad guy rather than create an extremely similar character and rename him.I did like the third act where superman is given a faulty kryptonite piece and becomes depressed and eventually leading to a fight between himself and Clark Kent. However what annoyed me the most was that to create the faulty rock and give superman his depressed persona they used tar. Surely the cigarette ingredient they should have used would have been nicotine??I didn't like the new squeeze that Clark Kent was chasing. Its Lois and Clark. Not old girl he knew from school and Clark.i thought overall the movie was slow and still i had to laugh at the miniature models as used for special effects. I know the movie is nearly 30 years old, but still. They were laughable and this from a guy who recently had no quarrel with any of the effect is all three Original Series of Star Trek.

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

As the Klingons are on the brink of killing themselves, they decide to attempt to form peace with the Federation until an unkown attack on puts that peace into war.

Proving for me that the Even numbered Star Trek movies truely are better than the odd. I liked this movie. Again not a lot to say about it, i mean you're either a Trek kinda person or not and unless you already like Star Trek you're not going to randomly watch the 6th film. But it was good. The fact that peace could be achieved, i liked. I loved the prison bit with Kirk and Bones and i liked the trial where Worf's Grandfather makes a guest appearance. As usual love the cast and i love the two main Klingons, performed by Christopher Plummer and David Warner.

The Enterprise and her crew are taken over by a rogue Vulcan in search of finding the Sha Ka Ree, what humans would call heaven.

How many of these films are there? Two more? Fine i'll watch them.

Ok so #5 was a big disapointment so another short review. Other than the nerd factor of that its a Kirk Star Trek movie i didn't like the story. I though the whle God thing was a bit far fetched and *POSSIBLE SPOILER* i don't think there was any need for Sybok to be Spock's brother. That link served no purpose, he could just have been a childhood friend or a Vulcan legend. But at least the original cast were on usual top form.

When a lizard is taken out of his pet like environment he must aid a town in restoring their water supply.

I have two mixed opinions about this film. As a film it's awesome, but i don't think i enjoyed it. I'll explain. The character characterisation and animation are the best i have seen from a non-pixar film. The individual personified charcters each had their own thing that marked them as a character and their animal. The voice actors were all great aswell. Love or hate him, Johnny Depp gives a great performance whatever he does. The rest of the cast were just as good: Ray Winstone, Isla Fisher and Bill Nighy to mention just a few. The humour was all there, bearing in mind its a kids film and this all adds up to that the film is "winning".

However. Keeping in mind that the film is a kids film, the film itself is boring. The story all makes sense and everything, but it's just boring and i cant figure out why. It started slow with Rango finding out whats happening and what not, but picked up when he reaches the town and gets into his character. Then it takes a dip as not much happens. Then picks up with one scene set to the tune of a western "Ride Of The Valkaries". Then it dips again and doesn't pick up until the end with the best scene ever in my opinion.*SPOILER*There is a scene where Rango "stops believing in himself" and gives up and finds himself in a dream like world (similar to the Davy Jones locker scene in the third Pirates movie) and there he meets the Spirit Of The West AKA The Man With No Name. An animated version of Clint Eastwood's renegade cowboy from the Dollars triology. Voiced by Timothy Olyphant is also a genius idea. He has the right slow, gruff voice that Eastwood had with the original character. He gives Rango hope again and he then finishes the movie, i'll not ruin the ending. On a side note this scene is also my favourite when Rango quotes Clerks with a "I'm not even supposed to be here today".

There were also a lot of times, mostly during the dips in quality, that i thought that this film is just another film where Johnny Depp goes "Look at me, i'm awesome and i shit gold because i'm so awesome and i'm the center of attention" Now don't get me wrong i like Johnny Depp but i think he might have hit that bit where he's just whoring himself out, especially with the next Pirates movie only having him and Geoffrey Rush in it from the first three. Having said all this i still say he did a good job and i will be seeing Pirates 4.

I think i'm still going mark it high despite its flaws because it is good and definately worth watching.

Thursday, March 17, 2011

A teenager decides to skip school and have an epic day in the city with his best friend and his girlfriend.

What's to review? This film is awesome. If Charlie Sheen (who cameos in the movie) is winning his life, then John Hughes definitely won his "9 times" over. Matthew Broderick in the title role is perfect. The way he changes his performance in character, the way he casually breaks the fourth wall and his general awesomeness. I love the bad guy in this movie "9 times" is a classic quote. Alan Ruck as Carman is also a classic performance. You really get emotionally attached to the characters. With Ferris at the end chase and with Cameron anytime the car is involved. As Emma Stone says in Easy A: what's with the musical number in the middle of the film? It was random and not sure why lip sync'ed but it was fun I suppose.

I am going to praise my fave 30ish seconds from the film so POSSIBLE SPOILER. When they steal the car and to the Star Wars theme tune, get air in slow mo and drive off into the distance. It was short but ticked my nerd box.

The more John Hughes I rewatch the more I see how much Kevin Smith likes his films.

If I had to slate this film, I don't know where abouts but I feel its about 10 mins too long. Might not sound like much but I checked the time at 1.30 and i think its 1.40 long (times are an estimation)

An old country star is touring when he meets a journalist, who changes his life.

I loved half this movie and hated the other half. This is weird but here we go: I loved the cast but hated the story. Jeff Bridges can do no wrong, Maggie Gyllenhaal was good and hot, Colin Farrell was good and Robert Duvall has a nice cameo, but I still hated the story. First off it seems weird to me the age gap between Maggie and Jeff, just seemed a bit strange. That Jeff Bridges manages to do nothing the entire film and still have me love it, is worthy of the Oscar he won. The music. Now as far as I am aware thus isn't a bio-documentary like Walk The Line, and I didn't know any of the songs in the film. Now that might just be my fault, and although it was awesome to see/hear Jeff Bridges sing, I didn't know the songs, why I was bored half the film.*possible spoiler*The fact he says he hates Colin Farrell and then just for the money says he'll sing with him, I know the character is desperate but that made no sense to me. I did love one of the opening scenes where Bridges is in a very familiar looking bowling ally :-)I'm having a hard time coming up with an overall score for it.

Overall: 6/10

Edit: 6/4/11

I'v been listening to the soundtrack since i saw this movie and i have to say I LOVE IT! This film would probably score a 7 or an 8 now. I love all of Jeff Bridges songs (Fallin and Flying is my fave, especially the one featuring Colin Farrell)

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

A team of archaeologists are given a once in a lifetime opertunity to go back in time and see the place they have been digging up

I saw this movie a while ago and decided that it was due for a rewatch. Now that i (think) i know more about movies, i don't think this movie has stood the test of time as others have. Paul Walker is annoying. I don't know what it is specifically, whether it be his acting or his accent, something doesn't work. Gerrard Butler was OK. The only film iv seen him in pre-300 , but he wasn't bad. Billy Connolly was great. He didn't play his part for laughs and his actual acting ability comes through. Same with Martin Sheen. Now i know of Martin Sheen and i know some of his work, but i've never actually seen him do any of them and this was a good performance by him. Finally I love David Thewlis in every role he does and although not in this movie as much, he is stil on top form.

*Possible Spoilers*

Now although iv given most of the cast a good review, the plot itself is a bit flimsy. Going back in time i get and love, however the fact they speak English and still claim to be Scottish, which the English are still at war with made no sense. Then the English don't kill them, like they kill the French on site and, personally it falls apart. Now the group have 3 marines with them, the best of their team and one takes a grenade with him, even though he's told not to and blows up the time machine. So much for the best, WTF??!! Then they can send a camera back and retrieve it, but a person can get stuck in the past....i don't know.

The action sequences were alright and a kind of justice and personal satisfaction (for the characters) is achived at the end.

Saturday, March 12, 2011

Two husbands are given a week off from marriage to relive their sexual fantasies of their youth.

This film breaks a rule comedies usually use; in that all the funny bits are in the trailer. They aren't. There are some really funny bits in this film. I'll not spoil them, but its funny. Now the cast, Owen Wilson didn't really exceed expectations, he was his usual self, which was alright. The major "lol"s mainly coming from Jason Sudeikis, whom I have no previous experience of, but hope to see him in more movies. The supporting cast were on top notch too: both Christina Applegate and Jenna Fischer were hot and funny. Steve Merchant proved for me that he doesn't need Ricky Gervais to be funny. There is a funny pre-credits scene with him which might be my fave bit of the film. Despite it being full of laughs I did think that the story at the end was dragged out slightly, but Merchant's scene at the end more than made up for it.

Thursday, March 10, 2011

Superman finally gets close to Lois Lane, when three criminals from Krypton are accidentally released and decide to take Earth for their own.

Now i'm not sure which bits are part of the director's cut as this was my first viewing of Superman II, but it all sempt good to me.Christopher Reeve just was Superman. I like Brandon Routh and i'm sure new guy will be good too, but he was first and that means everything. Also stealing the title from Kevin Spacey, is my new fave Lex Luthor, Gene Hackman. My fave bit of the movie was when Lex is laid on some filing cabinets and Jimmy brings the chief a coffee, Lex steals it, when Jimmy says the coffee is for the chief, Lex says "The chief has it" love it.Terrance Stamp as Zod, i mean i'v wanted to see this since i first saw Mallrats "SON OF JOR-EL, KNEEL BEFORE ZOD! SNOOCHIE BOOCHIES" Didn't disapoint.However i do have issue with something. I didn't see the point of the other two criminals. The film would have worked just as well if it had been Zod on his own. The other two were useless. Didn't do anything other than follow him around, kinda like Tristan from the Yu-Gi-Oh anime, he does nothing but chearlead everything.The film was good, but not as eye opening as the first.

The professor's first full length feature. The professor and his aprentice, Luke, are invited to an opera, but soon they are kidnapped and forced to solve puzzles in order to stay alive.

Not as dark as my decription makes it out to be. Now this review is plain and simple: If you like the DS games and like watching the movie clips, then you will enjoy this movie, if you didn't like those clips, or have never played the game, you won't like this movie.The original voice actors all return for the main roles are are really good, as per the game, however i thought the supporting cast and new characters all sounded like americans putting on bad british accents (not as bad as Kevin Smith in his podcasts). The animation comes in hits and misses. The 2D animation is fantastic. It's beautiful to see on a bigger screen than on the DS and is a nice change of pace compared with modern cgi. Which brings me to my second point: the added cgi. When the cgi is mixed in with the 2d, it doesn't look too bad, but when the entire screen is filled with the very cheap cgi, it looks rather naff, which is a shame because the 2d is very good.Now, obviously there isn't any puzzle solving the way that the games are represented, but there are puzzles galore and its good how the film has worked around the non-interaction and had the characters figure everything out for themselves.The story all makes sense, so long as i said earlier, you have played the games and its a good watch for a fan.

A man who wants to fall in love does but the one girl who doesn't want that.

Inspired by my friend Amelia, i watched this film with no expectations, it wouldn't have mattered though because the film is good. The story is told through a series of flashbacks, which at first were a little bit annyoying, but after the first few, it didn't matter, as the story peaked my interest. First off, Zooey Deschanel is on her usual top, hot form. She is an actress that i would to hang out with. Anyway, Joseph Gordon Levitt, the only film i have seen him in Inception, so not much back work to compare to, but he was a likeable main character and gave a sound perfomance. Hidden away in this movie is none other than Hit-Girl herself, Chloe Moretz. Love her in the two (now three) things iv seen her in.The film is funny, its sexy, its a good film. It's not "lol" funny, there isn't any nakedness and its not an awesome film, but definately worth a watch.

Saturday, March 5, 2011

A man travels to Berlin and is in an accident. He believes a life that isn't true and has to find his true identity.

"Liam Neeson is rapidly becoming Liam Neeson" this is a quote one of my friends said after this film and I don't think its a bad thing. True this film on the outside is a sequel to Taken, and in a way it is, but either way, its good. It's a different prospective in that instead of it being a psychological thriller of him thinking something new up, its the world around him has changed. I'll not ruin the story, but it does keep you guessing until the end. The action flowed well in-between the psychological bits: an average car chase, a couple fist fights and running everywhere. Liam "release the kraken" Neeson in the leading role and as said before, he's become 'Liam Neeson'. To quote TRS, he's become what Harrison Ford was. Playing similar leading roles in average but awesome movies. Another thing TRS said which I noticed and instantly agreed with, was when he says to do an internet search for him. That makes perfect sense to me. If I'd been kidnapped or an identity crisis, I'd immediately Google my many social network sites to prove who I was. The rest of the cast all did well too, I'm not sure of any of their names, but they were all good, especially the guy who played the retired spy.

Thursday, March 3, 2011

In order to save Earth from an alien probe, the enterprise crew must go back in time and resuce the now extinct humpback whale without ruining the past.

Definately my favourite of the Star Trek movies. Possibly due to the time travel aspect. As per all the films before it and the one more after it, all cast are on usual top form. From Chekov's "Nuclear Wessles" to Scotty trading future engineering developments to my favourite scene in the hospital and Bones is in his element "My god man, drilling holes in is head isn't the answer". Love it.

*possible spoilers*

I also loved the last line Spock has with his father "And tell my mother, i feel fine" loved the callback to the beginning of the film.

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

An American High-School movie about a girl who tells one lie about loosing her virginity, which turns her life upside down.

I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. There are characters to relate to, laughs to be had and great performances to watch. Emma Stone leads the cast as troubled teenager Olive. Not only has she grown more attactive since Superbad, she's blossomed as an actress too. I liked her character and she did a really good job as the lead. Her nemesis, played by the equally hot: Amanda Bynes, matches Stone toe to toe with her performance. It's always nice to see Friends actors (not counting Jennifer Aniston as she's in everything) doing things and Lisa Kudrow did alright. After watching Friends for so long, it's hard for the actors to be anything else, now Kudrow didn't really add anything new to the performance but it was good. Now, Olive's parents played by Patricia Clarkson and Stanley Tucci. I love Stanley Tucci. I'v loved him in everything iv seen him in and this is no exception. He's just a funny guy and has one of my favourite lines of the movie ("Let's Bucket List this bitch!") Love It. I can't say i'v seen Thomas Haden Church in anything since George Of The Jungle (a quick IMDB later says he was Sandman in Spiderman 3, but i didn't like that one) but he was funny as the teacher. Final cast member is Dan Byrd. I liked his character, even if he wasn't in it as much as i would want, he made me laugh.

This film is fun. It's a tribute to old John Hughes films and definately worth a watch. Remember, 'You mess with the bull, you get the horns'*Rides off on a lawnmower, fist in the air, with a beatbox playing "Danke Schoen" by Wayne Newton*

An alien child is sent from his dying home planet to Earth and becomes a hero.

The original Superman movies are a first time watch for me. I had no idea what to expect going into this movie (other than Superman: Returns is the eventual output) and i can say that my belief in comic movies has been not been altered. Loved It. I do however have one problem with this movie and something movies are still doing today. They put the biggest star as the first name on the list. I like Marlon Brando, he was awesome as Jor-El and I even more like Gene Hackman as Lex Luthor, but Christopher Reeve is playing the title role, he should be the first name mentioned, not the third.

Rant aside, as i mentioned the movie is great. Reeve's transformation from "mild mannered" Clark Kent to Kal-El is superb. Now the only other perfomances i have to go on are Brandon Routh's and the voice actor for DC Universe Online, but it was still a solid performance.

The special effects. Now I re-watched the entire first 3 seasons of Star Trek and the archaic effects in that didn't phase me once, but they did in this, the model villages being flooded, the space travel, the flying isn't too bad, but i dunno.

A man breaks out of prison to save his grand-daughter from being sacrificed in a satanic ritual, but the Devil's Accountant is on his tail to bring him back.

I went into this movie with the same "oh no, not another Nic Cage movie" and it was ok, but a Nic Cage movie nonetheless. I don't think Cage is beefy enough to be as a bad-ass as he wanted to be in this movie. He's got a bad-ass accent but I just think that this movie would have been far better if Jason Statham was the lead. Sorry Nicolas. Now his co-star, Amber Heard, I hated her wooden acting in places, but damn is she hot. The stand out for me was William Fichtner, he got the i'm a bad-ass in a suit comedic thing going for him. Little spoiler alert, there's one scene where Cage's angry driving is stopped by a police blockage and Fichtner drives from the other way in a petrol truck, singing That's The Way, I Like It. I was in stitches of laughter.

The action sequences in this movie were alright, but unlike the title would suggest, not a lot of actual Angry Driving. There's a bit but only because the bad guy is shooting at them or Cage's sports car takes 10 mins to catch a winnabago.